Staten Island man accused of drunkenly mowing down 3 people with car

Staten Island Advance photoA First Communion party at the Oriental Plaza on Richmond Avenue was marred after an altercation allegedly caused one man to drive his car into three of the partygoers.

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A Prince's Bay man is accused of driving drunk and plowing through three people as he drove away from a girl's First Communion party at a restaurant in Bulls Head this weekend.

The episode, which took place at the Oriental Plaza restaurant at 1845 Richmond Ave., Saturday night, has sparked some debate over whether the driver had crashed the party or was besieged by an unruly mob outside.

Vincent Ferrara, 34, of Prince's Bay, struck three people as he drove off, according to a law enforcement source -- one victim sustained a broken nose; a second had broken ribs and a broken arm; a third was treated for scrapes and bruises.

Shortly after, Ferrara flagged down an NYPD patrol car not far from the scene at Toddy Avenue and Signs Road, according to the source. Ferrara told officers that he struck the three people and that he was fleeing a fight outside the party, the source said.

But officers observed that Ferrara displayed signs of intoxication, the source said; he subsequently failed a breath test at the 120th Precinct stationhouse in St. George after blowing .142 percent -- well above the legal threshold of .08 percent.

Ferrara, who lives on Waterbury Avenue, was arrested at 2 a.m. Sunday and charged with driving while intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident.

In the hours that followed, two separate stories have emerged over what led to the incident.

Ferrara was attending a party on the first floor of the restaurant, while the Communion party was taking place on the second floor.

According to a man who claimed he was an off-duty EMT but wouldn't identify himself, Ferrara had chased his young daughter upstairs after she wandered away from him. Once there, a group of four men confronted Ferrara, claiming he was trying to crash their party. Everyone involved was drunk, the man said.

According to his account, Ferrara came outside with his wife and daughter a short time after his altercation, and once they got into his car, a large group came outside and surrounded it.

That led to a fracas, and after he managed to get his wife and daughter into the restaurant, the fight continued, the man said. At one point, he was knocked unconscious, the man said, and when he came to, he got into his car and slammed on the gas -- striking and injuring three people blocking his escape. 

DIFFERENT PICTURE 

But another party-goer painted a different picture of the lead-up to the incident.

Debbie Passaretti, of Great Kills, who said she was the Communion girl's aunt, said Ferrara came upstairs with his young daughter and refused to leave, eating their food and drinking their alcohol.

"He was drunk and belligerent, and wouldn't leave even though we were asking him to," she said.

The Communion girl's father confronted Ferrara, and his family members forced Ferrara downstairs, but he returned with two friends in tow, and the fight that followed spilled outside to the parking lot.

According to Mrs. Passaretti, Ferrara's wife was in the driver's seat, and her daughter in the back. Ferrara got into the passenger seat, and shoved his wife out of the car so he could drive.

That's when a restaurant manager was trying to pull the keys from the ignition to prevent Ferrara from driving away with his young daughter in the car, Mrs. Passaretti said.

When his wife got the young girl out of the car, Ferrara pulled out, then crept up the entrance, waited until the father of the Communion girl walked in front of his car, and slammed on the gas, Mrs. Passaretti said.

Police said there had been a dispute at the party, but could not confirm either side of the story last night.